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Muskies
Muskies is an unaired pilot that served as another prototype to The Halloween Kids (TV series). Strange envisioned the series as a coming-of-age type series, where the kids would gradually grow up and contend with issues faced in their age group. The pilot was pitched to Nickelodeon who aided in production. In spite of testing well with audiences, it would up never airing due to clearance issues and Strange potentially losing the rights to the characters. Summary Set in Muskego, Wisconsin, a team of seven kids go about their lives, getting into trouble and facing off against their venomous teacher, all for the sake of making the day go by. The gang consists of Victor, a unibrowed toady boy who's ego tends to get the better of him, Corky, a meek helmet-clad boy, Julie, a punk who holds a stronger moral compass than any of the others, Jupiter, a bubbly girl who's easy to please, Marilyn, the self-designated "happiest" goth, Monique, a shy quiet girl and Bernadette, a barefoot lingo-spouting girl who's unafraid to speak her mind. Plot Victor, Corky, Julie, Jupiter, Marilyn, Monique and Bernadette meet up on the roof of their school. Each intend to pull a major prank, which involves putting fart bombs into the air conditioning system, releasing mice into the cafeteria and flying a rival school's flag while hanging a bigger one in the front. Unfortunately, six of the seven forgot to get the needed materials. Victor reluctantly decides to hang out in the stairwell with the others after Julie picks open the roof access door. While the five hang out, they discover another student doing the pranks they intended to do. In school, their teacher Ms. Woolworth blames them all, already despising them due to their defiance against morality. They defend themselves, but are unable to sway her, and worse for them she was assigned as a temporary principal due to the real principal calling in sick. They get detention, but it's turned into a suspension after they are caught talking. They attempt to make the most of the suspension, but are unable to find anything fun to do. Worse yet, they're lambasted by their parents for getting suspended. They track down Ms. Woolworth, demanding that she revoke their suspension since they didn't pull the prank, but she claims that all school punishments are final. After doing more research, they learn that Ms. Woolworth pulled the pranks and told their principal to take off for the day, it was all a plan to get them out of school so she could better control her class. They decide to exploit Ms. Woolworths' fear of carbs in an attempt to get her to revoke their suspensions and confess to her deeds, which works, and even gets her to revoke other punishments she has laid. They return to school, where they're heralded as heroes for fighting against Ms. Woolworth's unethical punishments. It's revealed that Ms. Woolworth was fired from her job and is forced to work at a bagel store, to her horror. The pilot concludes with the group contemplating their next prank. A bully goes to a desk in front of them, seeing and removing a whoopee cushion on her seat before sitting down, but Corky does a raspberry as she sits, to her embarrassment. Cast * Billy West: Victor * Marcus Toji: Corky * Tara Sands: Julie * Olivia Hack: Jupiter * Danielle Judovits: Bernadette * Francesca Marie Smith: Monique * Kat Cressida: Marilyn * Julie Brown: Ms. Woolworth Trivia *Squeezed by What is This? was used as the opening theme song. It would latter be used in an episode of The Halloween Kids. Strange originally wanted to use Magic Man by Heart, but changed his mind, feeling that it didn't fit the series. * The designs used for most of the characters are mostly different than what was used in The Halloween Kids. **Victor wears a plain yellow polo shirt instead of a red/yellow striped one. **Julie looks chubbier and has a bigger pony tail. **Jupiter wears a black vest over her yellow t-shirt. **Monique doesn't wear her purple jacket over her grey hoodie and she lacks her shades. * Strange set the show in Muskego because he felt too many shows were set in places like California and New York. Had he gone forward with the series, it would also focus on the cultural aspects of Wisconsin. * Strange reportedly spent a week in Wisconsin to study the area. After traveling to Milwaukee and through southern Wisconsin, he wanted to go with a suburban area since kids would better connect with it, and went with Muskego as a result. * Nickelodeon had every intent to go forward on the series. Since many of the actors present on the show have lent their voices to their other shows at the time, it was easier to book voice sessions and the animation would be produced in-house. Strange ultimately declined because he would have to surrender the rights to his characters. From then on, he decided to self-fund his shows to maintain ownership rights.